In early July, Olympique Lyonnais’ sporting director, Juninho, said that the reason Neymar Jr. chose to come to Paris Saint-Germain was for money. He adds that Brazilian players have the mentality of pursuing the cash installed into them from a young age.
The statement made by the 45-year-old resulted in some push back from Leonardo, PSG’s sporting director. The 51-year-old made it clear that Juninho should focus on his club.
However, two months later, Juninho is walking back on his statement concerning Neymar. In an appearance on Top of the Foot, he clarified his comments concerning money being the sole reason the 28-year-old is in Paris.
“Maybe I misspoke. I was not just talking about the players, but about Brazilian society. When you are poor in Brazil, you have nothing. You are oppressed and you have only one possibility: to become the oppressor and to slaughter others. It is a bit like that. If you were born poor, you don’t eat three times a day, you live in a neighborhood where you see people on the ground shot dead. So what possibility do you have? Trying to do everything to make money,” Juninho said.
“When you receive a proposal, it is what you look at before looking at the career plan when the difference at this level is non-existent. Because whether you win 10, 12, or 15, you will live the same way. This is what I wanted to explain. But I may have expressed myself poorly when I mentioned Neymar. I did say that s portally, I consider Neymar as Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. He has a talent of that level. He’s an alien to me.”
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